Success Mindset

What Is A Success Mindset?

What it means to have a success mindset

In today’s world, having a success mindset is important. It allows you flexibility to see the different possibilities and steps needed to get the job done. Whether it’s in sports, business, academia, or entertainment; Individuals with a success mindset always seem to figure out how to make things happen, despite seemingly impossible odds.Some real-world examples of people with a success mindset are those with difficult upbringings who have gone on to make amazing things out of themselves.  We’ve seen leaders who’ve managed to fight unbelievable circumstances and secure success. They’ve all had the same commonality, a thought process or belief system called the success mindset.

The Success Mindset: Top 3 Aspects

We here at Acquirent think there are three things that define this success mindset:
1. A Growth Mindset
2. An Inward-Looking Propensity
3. Positive Possibilities

Having a Growth Mindset

Author, Carol Dweck’s book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success covers, in detail, the difference between a growth or fixed mindset. At Acquirent, we’ve found the information provided in this book valuable enough to provide all our managers with a copy.

A growth mindset is believing that you can become better and improve with time and practice. Having a fixed mindset is thinking that there are aspects of your personality and skill set that cannot be improved past your current state.One example is intelligence. A growth mindset believes that a person can raise their IQ or knowledge with study and practice. However, someone with a fixed mindset believes that your IQ is what it is. If you are bad at math, it does not matter how much you practice, there are concepts that you will be unable to grasp.

Image courtesy of Professionalcourage.com

Having an Inward-Looking Propensity

In a nut shell, this is the ability to look inward at oneself. It is impossible to have a success mindset without self-awareness. Make sure you are pointing fingers at yourself in all situations, even good ones. Could you have done something different that would allow you to improve in the future? Some important questions to ask yourself are:

• What did I learn from the situation?
• How am I growing?
• What could I have done?

Asking yourself these questions keeps you constantly looking forward and moving forward.

Realizing the Positive Possibilities

Our third aspect of having a success mindset is believing the positive possibilities for yourself. This is not blind optimism and does not mean you should believe that you can do everything. For example, if you are 5’5” and believe you can slam dunk, that doesn’t mean you can do it. But if you can realize the positive possibility that you can improve your shot, step-by-step, you can become a better jump shooter. This is the belief that positive changes can happen, when we take the steps to make it happen.

Not to get too meta here, but it does take practice to adopt a success mindset for those who don’t already have one. If you believe you can change your outlook, then you can start by taking a look at yourself and figuring out the steps you can take to adapt your mind toward a more successful way of thinking.

In sales, this could start with setting goals, or listening to your calls. You may decide to adapt your scripts, follow up more, or work on your listening. Whatever it is, you must start with believing it is possible to get better, then give yourself the time and dedication to improve.